Ancient Pasts - Tbate

A Safe Return

Cathan Leywin Pov

As I walked into beast glades, my eyes had to adjust to the light from the sun. As my eyes got used to the sun, I spotted a few figures and my eyes widened.

The moment I stepped out, around a dozen men pointed their weapons at me. All of them looked to be high-ranked adventurers. Out of those adventures, three figures stood out.

They were Lance Aya, Noah, and Grandpa Virion. They were probably here because Alea was late to come back. From what I heard, she was the weakest lance by a large margin.

"Who are you?!" A man who looked to be thirty shouted. Judging from his attire and ax, he is an adventurer. At least an AA-class adventurer, if I had to guess.

"G-Gramps?!" I questioned, ignoring the adventurers.

"Cathan? What are you doing here? What the hell happened to you?" Grandpa Virion questioned the moment he realized who I was.

"Well, it was supposed to be a class dungeon expedition. But as you can tell, that didn't go as planned." I joked, earning a chuckle from him.

"Even in your dire state, you joke around." He chuckled before suddenly getting more serious.

"Elder Virion, do you know this child?" The adventurer from before asked.

"Yes, I do." He said to the guard before turning to me. "Cathan, what happened?"

"We were in a C-class dungeon called Widow's Crypt. For some reason, all the mana beasts and the queen were on the first floor. Arthur, the professor, and I defeated the queen, but it managed to catch up to us and blew up a hole in the ground, which I fell into. After that, it was a walk through this dungeon." I explained with a crestfallen expression.

"This is an AA-class dungeon! You expect us to believe a child made it through without dying?!" The adventurers yelled out in protest.

"Did you see anyone else in the dungeon?" Grandpa Virion held up a hand to silence them and asked.

"Yep. It was lance Alea." I replied casually.

"Where is she?" Lance Aya stepped forward and asked me.

"She's inside at the moment. Her squad, on the other hand..." My voice trailed off into a grim expression.

"Come on. There will be time for questions later." Grandpa Virion motioned for them to follow.

They all moved behind him without saying a word. I was about to follow them since I needed to get Azrael. But Noah put a hand on my shoulder to stop me.

"I'm sorry, kiddo. But you're not allowed inside." Noah stated with a stern expression.

"He can handle himself. Let him come." Grandpa Virion interrupted before I could say a word.

"E-Elder Virion, it's not safe for him." Noah protested, caught a little off guard.

"Haha. That little kid could probably beat every one of us except Aya." Grandpa Virion laughed, eliciting the adventurers' reactions to change. From angry and confused to offended expressions.

He just ignored those adventurers and gestured for me to lead them to Alea. After a few hours and a few skirmishes with mana beasts, we arrived where Alea and Azrael were.

Alea was seated on a boulder with Azrael perched on her shoulder. Alea was sitting there, but when Azrael heard us approach, he quickly lowered himself to protect Alea.

"Alea!" Aya called out while running towards Alea.

"I see Azrael changed a lot during these three years," Gramps commented as Azrael landed on my shoulder.